ITEM 9-A
COUNCIL MEETING: Sept. 15, 1992 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Adopt Resolution Accepting the
Modifications to the Land Use Plan of the Local Coastal
Program As Certified by the California Coastal
Commission
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council adopt the attached
resolution and accept the suggested Coastal Commission
modifications to the Santa Monica Land Use Plan of the Local
Coastal Program. Attachment A is a memorandum from Coastal
Commission staff outlining the changes required by the Commission
for certification of the LUP.
BACKGROUND
On October 15, 1991, the City Council adopted and authorized
through resolution, the submittal of the Local Coastal Program
(LCP) document to the Coastal Commission for their review and
certification. The LCP document that was submitted contained
both the Land Use Plan and the Implementation Plan that is
required by state law. Coastal staff provided City staff with
recommended language changes which were quite extensive and would
have required substantial modifications to the Implementation
Plan as approved by the City Council. In an effort to facilitate
the certification of a Land Use Plan (which would make the city
eligible to receive funds from the Coastal Conservancy), staff
recommended that the Council authorize the withdrawal of the
Implementation Plan from Coastal Commission consideration. This
action was approved by Resolution of the City Council on July 28,
1992.
Analysis
On August 11, 1992 the Coastal Commission certified Santa
Monica's Land Use Plan which covered only a portion of the
Coastal Zone and which had modifications to some policy language.
The Commission deferred certification of all the policies within
the Beach Overlay District (Proposition S area) and policies
within the boundaries of the Civic Center Specific Plan. Coastal
staff and the Commission felt that, absent a specific plan for
the Civic Center, no policies could be adopted at this time. In
relation to the Proposition S area, the Commission felt that
additional work was required to develop policies and programs to
off-set the prohibition of overnight visitor accommodations.
Both the City and Coastal staff will be working during the fall
to produce policy language to address the concerns of the Coastal
Commission. Further, the City will be returning to the Coastal
Commission for certification of the Civic Center Specific Plan
area once the plan has been adopted by Council.
As a result of the exclusion from certification of the Beach
Overlay District and the Civic Center Specific Plan area from the
certification, a number of policies were not considered as part
of the Land Use Plan by the Coastal Commission. City staff
intends to work with Coastal staff to try to resolve the
outstanding issues. Once an agreement is reached, Santa Monica
staff will conduct public workshops and return to the Planning
Commission and City Council for public hearings. Attached to
this report is a proposed timeline City staff will follow. The
following outlines the policies that have been deleted or
modified as recommended by the Coastal Commission. Deletion of
these policies does not affect the City's ability to enforce
Proposition S.
Beach Overlay District
All of the policies implementing Proposition S were deleted.
These include policies 4, 9, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 29, 34, 36,
40, 41, 43, 46, 49, 50, 54, 55, 56, 69, 70, 85-91, 94, 101, 102,
103, and 104.
Civic Center Specific Plan Area
Policies 111-115 were deleted from consideration at this time,
pending adoption of the Civic Center Specific Plan by Council.
Other Modifications
The policy language modifications that were approved by the
Coastal Commission were relatively minor. The modifications
suggested for Policy 52 and Policies 78-81 are more significant
however. The changes have been reviewed by Planning and City
Attorney's staff and are acceptable to City staff.
The Coastal Commission modified Policy 52 to establish a specific
number of affordable hotel/motel rooms in the Coastal Zone that
should be maintained and establishes procedures on how the rooms
would be preserved. The new policy language requires that no
more than 25% of the 502 affordable rooms (as of May 1990) shall
be removed until or unless an equivalent number of rooms have
been replaced within the City of Santa Monica. Additionally, the
removal of rooms above the 25% threshold cannot occur until
construction begins on the replacement facilities.
The Commission deleted Policies 78-81 from the Land Use Plan
since these policies were deemed inconsistent with the Coastal
Act. These policies were an attempt by the City to restate its
local authority with regard to downzoning and interim ordinances.
The deletion of the policies does not restrict the City's ability
to adopt moratoria or downzoning since that authority will still
rest with the City, notwithstanding the deletion from the LUP.
Therefore, City staff and the City Attorney's Office do not
object to the removal of the policies.
All the other modifications required by the Coastal Commission
are identified in Attachment A. These changes are technical
changes necessary to comply with the Coastal Act.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The recommendation presented in this report will entitle the City
of Santa Monica to receive funds from the Coastal Conservancy for
the rehabilitation of the Pier. There are no other budget or
fiscal impacts.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached
Resolution which accepts the modifications to the Land Use Plan
of the Local Coastal Program (LCP) document as certified by
California Coastal Commission.
Prepared By: Paul Berlant, Director of LUTM
Suzanne Frick, Planning Manager
Paul Foley, Associate Planner
Land Use and Transportation Management Department
Program and Policy Development Division
Attachments: A. Memorandum From Coastal Commission Staff
Outlining Specific Modifications.
B. Resolution Adopting the Coastal Commission
Recommended Modifications
C. Proposed Timeline for the Deferred Area